Reviews by 4DAloveofSTOUT:

12oz bottle with a rustic bottle label that is sealed with pressure cap and thick maroon red wax.

bottle # 723. bottled on date is 1-18-2013.

poured into wine stem.

Appearance: opaque dark black bodied beer with a thick medium brown cap that quickly recedes to a ring around the glass. Leaving decent legs on the glass after each sip.

Smell: Never ending aroma of fudge and bourbon that are just massive in this beer. Heavy dose of oaky tannic earthiness and even more wood. Hints of smokiness and leather. Splash of vanilla for good measure too. Smells slightly boozey.

Taste: Immediate. Tastebud. Overload. In reguards to the flavor profile...this beer comes at you hard, but in the best possible way. I have never tasted soo much fudge in a stout as I have with this beer. Immediately when the beer hits your tongue, it has a substantial amount of richness. As the strong fudge character slowly fades into the beer, its like an unforgetable memory or an old reliable friend; next is when the many other complexities begin to surface within the beer. The barrel notes immerge from the middle of the beer. Loads of coconut and leather mix with top shelf bourbon. Tannic oak and a hint of roasty malts linger in the background. Hints of caramel chocolate candies and molasses. The finish takes all the flavors in this beer and integrates them all together perfectly. The flavors found in the finish include milk chocolates, rich fudge, bourbon, vanilla, coconut, oak, and leather. What a balanced and complex stout!

Mouthfeel: medium bodied beer that is almost a full bodied stout. Low carbonation levels with just enough carbonation. Super mellow and smooth drinking; not boozey at all. Chewy, luscious, oily and mouthcoating feel to this beer.

Overall: This is the best PvW barrel aged stout out there. PvW Black Magick is easily better than BCBS Rare and PvW Dark Lord. This beer might even be my favorite barrel aged stout. This beer is insanely amazing. This beer has far exceeded my expectations, this beer is flawless. Vodoo you guys nailed this beer! I am not sure that I can look at any other barrel aged stout the same after drinking this beer. Whoa, what just happened!!!! This was seriously a religious experience, no doubt.

More User Reviews:

5/5 rDev +6.8%look: 5 | smell: 5 | taste: 5 | feel: 5 | overall: 5

Reviewing the Pappy Van Winkle Black Magick from Voodoo Brewing Company out of Meadville, Pennsylvania.

Score: 100

Bottle is dated 01/18/13. There were allegedly 522 of these made, but I am clearly drinking out of bottle #527. Served in a Goose Island Black Friday Bourbon County Brand Stout snifter and enjoyed on 12/05/13.

Appearance: Pours the same inky black color as the Buffalo Trace and Laird's Apple Brandy versions with a thin layer of cinnamon head that settles to a thick ring around the glass. Excellent lacing, amazing retention. The cling factor on this beer noticeably trumps the Buffalo Trace and Laird's Apple Brandy version. 5/5

Smell: Unlike the Buffalo Trace and Laird's Apple Brandy versions, the vanilla and chocolate aromatics do not "explode" out of the bottle as soon as it is opened. They are still there in good force, but they come across as denser, and richer here. Ample cocoa/dark chocolate gives the nose a nice anchor to the sweeter characters. The vanilla comes across a little more restrained here than it did in the Buffalo Trace version.The mix of chocolate and vanilla in the nose is reminisce of how the vanilla bean Taza chocolate wheel smells, for those that have had the pleasure (those that have not are highly encouraged to buy some). Behind the chocolate and vanilla notes are a lovely mix of fig, raisin and other dried dark fruits, a dash of cinnamon, a hint of spent coffee grounds and nice undertones of caramel, toffee and brown sugar. There is an oakiness to the nose too, but in substantially lesser quantum than it was in the Buffalo Trace version. The nose is rounded out by fudge brownie notes towards the end of the whiff. I like the change of pace through restraint here compared to the Buffalo Trace and Laird's Apple Brandy versions, and the complexities meld wonderfully. 5/5

Taste: Wow! The taste here is surprisingly different from the Buffalo Trace version! My first sip is like biting into a vanilla cake with notes of raisin and marshmallow, with a chocolatey caramel finish. Virtually no oak charactery here. Distinctly bourbon-flavored undertones, as compared to the more deconstructed, but well married, brown sugar, oak and dark fruit characters of the Buffalo Trace version. This beer has a smooth backbone comprised of milk chocolate, bakers chocolate dark chocolate and molasses, but it is much less sweet than you would think given the flavors overlaying. The dried dark fruit character comes across nicely, without imparting a lasting sweetness. There is a little tobacco and a faint hint of coffee towards the finish too. The chocolate notes add a nice counterbalancing bitterness to the sweeter characteristics of this beer. The chocolatey-caramel finish is long-lasting. No real "fudge" on the palate, but who cares? This beer is damn delicious. 5/5

Mouthfeel: Full bodied, with the perfect amount of (i.e., not that much, but just enough) carbonation. The flavors here coat and cling to the palate, layering nicely with a long finish. Well balanced and creamy, with a sweetness level falling somewhere between the Buffalo Trace and Laird's Apple Brandy versions. Has a nice dryness to it as well. The mouthfeel here is awesome. 5/5

Overall: I thought the Buffalo Trade and Laird's Apple Brandy versions of this beer were excellent, but this one is truly king of the variant trio. Epic notes of creamy, cake and marshmallow-like vanilla, dense chocolate morsels and raisin sweetness marry perfectly to create one of the greatest drinking experiences I have had in a long while. This beer is just as good as Bourbon County Rare was when it was fresher. It is on par with (and less sweet than) Bourbon (and Brandy, while we're at it) Vanilla Barrel Aged Dark Lord. This is one of those can't miss, must seek out bottles.

T - Taste follows the nose here with a solid pack of fudge and chocolate up front with the heat from the pappy coming through in the middle (all pappy barrel aged beers when done right have a unique taste to them and this one is no different) Finish is surprisingly sweet and bold with more notes of fudge chocolate tobacco. Really smooth for 13.5%

F - Feel is full bodied creamy thick not too much carb.

O - I enjoyed this slightly less than KBBS, but both reside in my top 3 as far as BA Stouts go

12oz bottle, #885 with the maroon/purple wax, though allegedly the bottle count was out of 522. Bottled 1/18/2013. Poured into a Voodoo snifter while hanging out in the Voodoo barrel room today, 2/13/2014. Thanks so much Zac.

Review #445.

App- Pours like motor oil. Dark black body, opaque with a fairly minimal mocha head that dissipates quickly. Not much lacing. Lots of leg. Typical of a high-echelon imperial stout.

Smell- Oh my God. So much sweet, decadent whiskey. Same smell that The K13 and Rare and King Henry bring. Plus so much dark chocolate, milk chocolate, barrel vanilla and a bit of espresso. So intense and so decadent.

Flavour- Sweet and mellow whiskey, dark and milk chocolate, so much chocolate fudge with touch of molasses, vanilla, some espresso... this is ridiculously flavourful in both an intense and mellow way. Obviously, I can't call any beer both mellow and intense since that's an oxymoron. Maybe mellow and complex is a better way to put it as there is a ton going on, but they are not covering each other up but rather complementing each other perfectly. Either way, this is the best Pappy beer I've ever had and that includes The K13. And most certainly the best barrel-aged stout I've ever had.

Mouthfeel- Thick bodied, not syrupy but incredibly substantial on the palate. Just the right amount of carbonation for the style. Aftertaste is decadent fudgy chocolate that sticks with you. Not hot at all.

Overall- The best Pappy-aged beer I've ever had and that includes Rare, King Henry, and even The K13. This beer is worth what it's commanding on the market right now despite being in a 12oz bottle format. 4 ounces of this beer is all you need to blow your mind. By far the best barrel-aged imperial stout I've ever had.

T- Toffee&gt;fudge&gt;tobacco&gt;chocolate; while in perfect harmony with the pappy barrel. Oz per Oz this taste as good as a fresh DB Huna (DB Huna has lost some of the rum barrel characteristics).

M- Extremely velvety smooth, creamy, etc. Carb is just the right amount. There is a boozy creamy fudgy thick linger in my mouth for minutes after sipping this one down. Almost 5 on this.

O- I just popped the Buffalo Trace (2nd one had in the past month)---&gt; now this is noticeably better than today's Buffalo Trace, but two people agree that the first bottle of Buffalo Trace was better than this. The first bottle of Buffalo Trace was extremely thick, creamy and tasted like liquid boozy chocolate fudge. I altered the rating of Buffalo Trace because of the variability of the beer.

I have only had one bottle of BCBS Rare, and this blows that away. Maybe I got a bad bottle?

T - Chocolate, fudge, tons of vanilla, and tons of butterscotch from the pappy. Slight oak and alcohol on the finish. This has tons of vanilla, butterscotch, and fudge in it and it is absolutely amazing

M - Medium thick and smooth body with a slight stickiness from the sweetness.

O - This is an amazing pappy beer with great butterscotch and vanilla presence to it. Want to get as much of this as possible. Reminds me of a slightly less thick yet sweeter Rare

Opens sweet molasses and fudge. Sweet soy sauce, prunes, fig, and plum in the middle all wrapped up in chocolate with a lingering, evil booziness wafting in the background. End is sweet honey, some leather and more booze going down. Sweet, sticky aftertaste. Very very impressive.

Medium to full bodied with low carbonation. Smooth, slick, and oily in the mouth and goes down warm, viscous, and caressing. Messy finish with a strong, sweet, lingering aftertaste. Oh so perfect.

Easily one of the best imperial stouts I've had in a long, long time. I went to this release and I'm definitely no homer (as can be seen from my reviews) but this beer is no joke. Seek it out. You won't be disappointed.